City of Sin

Book 2, 39

Attack(2)

Richard spurred his horse on, and they picked up their pace as they galloped swiftly towards the church that was a distance away. The fragmented sounds of the hooves hitting the ground resounded throughout the area, causing hearts to race.

A man peeked out through the blinds of a house on the road, trying to make sense of the commotion all around him. He gasped in surprise at the sight, immediately covering his mouth when he realised he’d let out a noise. He then shut his windows tightly, slumping to the floor without the ability to stand back up.

The ground shook with another rumble, the two trolls behind the army charging forward with big strides. There were shadows passing between the buildings on the sides of the road as well, the nine raptors flanking around from the side quickly. They displayed great agility as they leapt through rooftops and dark alleys.

The raptors were different from normal beasts. They had a certain level of intelligence, and Richard could give them some simple commands like have them stay close to each other, roam freely, stop and observe, or attack enemy targets.

When the church was less than half a kilometre away, Richard kicked his horse again. The sound of hooves against the ground intensified, like muffled thunder before a storm. Two intoxicated youths stepped out of a brightly lit tavern, dressed in army uniform and looking like they were supposed to be on nightly patrol. They looked out at the streets to see what had disrupted their merry-making.

Seeing the warhorses bounding towards him, one of the drunk men uttered in complete shock, “My goodness, what are those?!”

The other one, a little more sober now, saw the menacing silhouette of the trolls in the distance, “THEY’RE THE BEASTS FROM ANOTHER PLANE! GOD, THEY’VE ACTUALLY MANAGED TO ENTER THE CITY. HURRY, WE NEED TO RAISE THE ALARM! QUICK—”

Before he could continue, an arrow from the dark pierced his throat. The remaining words never came out, and even as his swaying partner tried to make sense of the situation a mounted knight charged over like a gust of wind. He hacked the man’s head off with his one-handed axe, sending it flying into the air.

The troop continued to gallop past the tavern door, and with the two trolls following them the guests were completely shaken, quelling any ideas they had of stepping outside. They closed the doors in a panic, putting all the light out.

The church was now within view. Atop the stairs leading to the building were two knights standing tall like statues, both dressed in elaborate gold outfits. Truth be told, they were actually just squires— it was only on guard duty that they had the chance to be armed completely like the church’s paladins.

Richard kept his sword by his side, charging all the way up the steps without hesitation. The guards had already discovered them— one raised his greatsword with both arms, while the other shouted loudly to warn of the invaders.

*Whoosh!* Another two arrows flew out from behind Richard, hitting the two guards. The one who had shouted to alert the rest was hit in the face, falling down, but the other managed to ward it off with his sword. Olar wasn’t a professional archer— the faster he shot, the weaker and less accurate his arrows became.

However, the troops on both sides overtook Richard, charging up the steps all the way to the entrance of the church. They used the momentum of the charge to slam their swords into the guard, causing him to tumble backwards. Two red gashes appeared on his chest, red blood gushing out. He fell back against the door with a dull thud, before collapsing onto the ground.

It was only now that an alarm began to ring loudly. It was loud and filled with a sense of urgency, undoubtedly waking every sleeping soul in the city. Even Forza, who’d just laid down on his bed, sat up with a start. His face turned pale, and his heart almost jumped out of his chest. He ran towards the window, pulling apart the curtains to see fires raging in the direction of the church.

“This... the church is under attack by the intruders?” Forza could not believe his eyes.

The church gates were tall and grand, but they weren’t particularly built for defense. The two trolls managed to crush them with a few powerful strikes, and Richard used the chaos and dust cloud to take a few steps forward and begin chanting. Two fireballs flew into the church in quick succession less than three seconds later, leaving it buzzing with alarm and chaos. None of the guards could make it in time to ward off the attack.

Richard’s line of sight was obstructed by the dust cloud, but that didn’t matter. The spells had been cast as intended, and they were far from a shot in the dark. Based on the intel he’d received, if they weren’t blocked they would land right in front of the altar, suppressing the church’s divine power. In the partially sealed space, the fireballs could exhibit great power.

“Tiramisu, Medium Rare, the rest of you, that way!” Richard pointed towards the right side of the church. The trolls, two knights, and Olar swiftly moved out, rushing towards the paladins’ housing in the distance. The raptors dashed forward as well, a sea of black rushing across the floor.

Waterflower took advantage of the chaotic situation, keeping close to the wall as she stealthily crept into the church. On the other hand, Gangdor barged in with his large axe in hand.

“TREMBLE, WEAKLINGS!” he howled, a knight with a huge shield following right behind to defend him if needed. This was a habit developed through numerous battles; after all, Gangdor’s eye-catching build and the fact that he was loud left him easy to notice on the battlefield.

Richard and Flowsand entered the church as well, seeing six fully-armoured paladins charging out from the pillars on both sides. Richard’s eyes shrunk, “How are there so many?”

It was late in the night, and all the paladins should have been resting. There had to be three or four taking guard duty at most, but six fully-armoured paladins had appeared at the time. However, one look at the situation near the altar told him why exactly this was the case.

Even though the damage to the building itself didn’t seem all that extensive from the outside, the scene in front of him perfectly showcased the destructive capabilities of his tactic. The damage was even greater than he had expected, leaving a sea of destruction before the altar. There were seven or eight dead bodies scattered around, and the statue of Neian leant precariously to one side, the entire surroundings bathed in magic flames.

It seemed like the attack had interrupted some kind of secret ceremony. There were only a few seconds between the doors breaking down and the advent of the fireballs, and with the first one having a delayed explosion the damage had been dealt at the same time. This had left the officials who were performing the rites with nowhere to run to, completely defenceless against the flames.